THE GODDESS OF LOVE Part Two

 Aphrodite -The Goddess Of Love

Whispers In My Ears Of Tainted Days,from Those Who Never Loved Me,Awakened My Person To Go ExtraMile And Beyond The Strange Fancy Of Darkness And Benighted Earth.Life Is A Mystery,interred On The Sand dunes Of Love And Hate,a Treasured Island Of The Goddess Of Love.The Unsung As The Unloved ,Clustered On This Field,And Every Golden Morn Does Rise InTheir Ambition And Resolve AboveThe Ordinary.Let Me Beyond Their Reach,Farthest Go. Come Down Not,From Thy Horse ,O MY Embellished Aspire Of The Subconscious Wills ! Let Me Rise Above This Sand dunes Of The Treasured Island,that I May Do The Damnedest And Climb Above The Sky Of No Return .Goddess Of Love,Teaches Me To Fast,to Fallow ,To Sacrifice And To Risk Everything Riskable,and To Plunge Into The Deep Of The Unplunged .In That Space Of Fair Clay,Let Me Climb Above Mt.Everest,wherein She Also Live And Higher,Tis The Earth Booties,my Lifelong Heritage. Because I Am Never Loved,teaches My Fury Of Scorned Horn,not To Gallivant A forth But To Toil Like The Trojan Horse

GODDESS OF LOVE Part one

I Am Not Loved By Those,i Do Not Love.I Am Loved By Those I Do Not Love.And Heypresto,the Cockcrows,Only To Be Confined,Within Spaces,Most Undesirable.Do I Struggle To Be Loved And To Love Them That Struggle To Love Me?I Am The Equation Of Those Who Never Loved Me And A Barometer Of Those Who Wished To Be Loved But Were Never Loved.Love Is In The Risk Of Influence And Balanced By The Equation Of Subconscious Wills.Elope Me Not,this Fact Of Life And Save Me From The Struggle Of Being Loved,That I Might Build My Influence To CajoleThe Second And Third Persons'Subconscious Minds To Do My Biddings.I Am The Forest OfThose,waiting To Be Loved,And A Desert Of Those Love Unlimited Struggles.Struggle Not to Be Loved By Those Who Never Loved You,For He Struggled To Be Loved And Hellbent On Being Loved,Is A Vulture Of Love.To Be LovedAnd That We Shall Be Loved Is A Lifelong Song,That May Never Be Heard And Played. All The Cymbals And Drums Of The Hallowed ,may Be Ample rotund for the goddess of love .

OUEEN'S COUNSEL

                                                                    

                                                                         

 Alfred Tomson Lord Denning,the greatest judge this century -the master of the Rolls

                                                                   CHAPTER   ONE

This novel teaches a willing student basic of  the law of contracts and we shall run several chapters for readers in a way to tell the story as well as the tutelage in this civil fields of the law.Ibikunle Laniyan blogger tells the story of how Alimat in an attempt to improve our trade decided to learn about the civil law and basic legal terminologies in sealing an agreement .We need this knowledge too in our various commercial transaction and such learning need not be exclusive preserve of the lawyers alone .Enjoy the reading.

Law is an interesting piece of study and people in the legal profession are the eyes of the society .Alimat took a special interest  in its study and desires to be a lawyer someday .But for the meantime had a booming business to take care of and she wanted to know ,what it takes to seal a basic contract and what are legal processes involved in sealing an agreement. She also wanted to know what it takes to identify a fake or genuine agreement and how would she able to read and handle genuine documents .And so,to avoid been cheated and unfortunately appending unnecessary signatures ,on receipts,she was bent to know and intended to learn but barely knew nothing on how to identify its hidden clauses .This pressure prompted her to look for her lawyer ,to teach her the basics first as far as the law of contract is concerned .She woke up one morning and headed to lawyer’s home and heypresto as agreed earlier , she started receiving basics of contract law such as sealing contracts and terminating contracts among others .

‘’Good morning ‘’She greeted with much ado on her bended knees

‘’How are  you and how is your family ?’’Lawyer Wale replied warmly .

‘’Oh,you did not forget about the tutorial and the classes , we earlier discussed ‘’she recollected

‘’Oh yes , I keep  a schedule for you and that is why I am around .I wanted to take a bath now ,so,go outside to the compound,there is a penthouse up there ,when you  get to  the Car park and you see the steps ,climb up ,enter the room and wait for me .I’ll be there after dressing  and there should be a class there every Friday or sometimes Saturday .’’

‘’Thank you Sir ‘’She headed towards  the class ,warmed by appreciation from this deservedly worthy personality .Lawyer Wale was fond formerly of lawyers in his chambers but not many of them gave him a rapturous attention,the way Alimat ,a busy street trader in Oshodi does and ever since he returned from England ,to set up local practice,three years ago  ,there has never been a time,when she did not complain of legal problems  and various denials from chamber lawyer in her attempt ,to see Wale .It was then that he was fond of her sheer determination and could have recommended fellow chamber lawyers to do the teaching but decided to do  it by himself , giving her special treatment ,than she might have thought off.He said ,passion was the secret of every success and had always liked to be associated with determined people .Never for once had fear pricked in search of the man who bought children toys from her exactly three years ago ,the same period ,he came from U.K. She became deft in her tart ,to maneuver her way to  the chamber   , be it for appointment or not .It finally ,after she closed the day trading at five pm and headed to the Wale chamber and was lucky ,that she was the only lawyer left in the chamber and so they clicked .She learned the virtues of managing disappointment and never feel ashamed to be  coarse on account of purpose and integrity .Alimat climbed upstairs to the penthouse and two hours later ,the class began .

‘’Alimat ,Legal profession is a broad area  and I can  you assure you,all the assistance you needed to climb above and achieve your ambition ,shall be freely given in my little power .I was a queen’s counsel  in the U.K. before I came down to the country and le me make it clear that every passionate people interested in the silk trade like you always get my attention ..Law is simple and can be known with clarity ,by every  tom,dick and harry .This is because gone are the days ,when only few opportuned lawyers ,ganged up to pyrate and get hold of law reports .Everything now is free and this is because the moment Gani Fawehimi started publishing Nigerian Weekly Law Report ,cases are thrown to the public and you can goggle for yourself both the old and the new cases ,free for public consumption.

So,let get down to the brass-tacks . What you needed now are the basics of commercial law or the law of  contracts as a form of civil law to be precise .’’Lawyer raised his lungpower and lowered them at will .

‘’So, you think that is what you need for now and I would have suggested that you get a decree in law but anyway , you must start somewhere ‘’

‘’Yes Sir , I just wanted to know how to enter into a contract or seal an agreement safely .I don’t want to  repeat my previous mistakes again’’

‘’Like what mistakes ,be specific ‘’he interrogated

‘’I sold four waistcoats  on credit to an undergraduate ,who hailed from rich home  in 2002 .You told me that I shouldn’t bother myself about this case and that there was no way ,I could recover my losses.So ,I didn’t quite understand you  and so, what do you mean ? Why wouldn’t I bother  myself , yet it cost me 200,000 naira .’’she was troubled

‘’How old was he then ‘’he retorted

‘’I didn’t know his age but later I complained to his sister only to find out ,he was just 17 and I was just surprised because he told me he was older than me ‘’

‘’Why the seniority fight ?’’

‘’It was because of the delay in making the payment and I so I threteaned him ,only for him to ask me how old are you self ?And so ,one day , I pressed charges ,located their house and reported to the sister ,who told me a lot about him .Like I said ,you warned not to press charges that it was due to my ignorance ‘’she remarked though rather regretfully

‘’Yea,I could remember , now ,it happened about 2 year ago ,you came to my office at island .I finally realize the kind of importance ,you place on the legal profession as you become adult and your  awareness  about the importance of contract in a  common transaction .Let me not cite cases , similar to that case but you would judge for yourself when we reach there and similar cases adjudicated  as appeared in the case laws .By then, you shall be able to answer that question yourself.Are you okay now?’’

‘’Am all ears now ‘’raising her brow on the board

‘’I would communicate to you also by mail teleconferencing , skyppe,webinars ,in case I travel abroad or migt even recommend you to my responsible chamber lawyers ..And so,that ‘s it .Now our focal point is the law of contract ,my dear Alimat ,I want you to pay attention  to every detail because they all matter.

There are certain agreements ,regarded by the courts sacrosanct , binding and enforceable as at when due in a court of law ,so that breacher or those who breach them  can be sued in .That is exactly, what the law of contract deals with .They can be found in business, transaction  like insurance , Banking ,employment ,buying and selling and services in general.

Now since contracts invariably involve in basic commercial transactions that can probably incur huge financial losses ,due to a possible default .Ordinarily ,they require legal proceedings to enforce such valuable agreements  .It is even better and for efficiency sake , that businessmen are legally protected and mandated to abide by ethical attitude and should understand that contracts freely entered into are contracts that should be or must be honoured and performed. ‘’

‘’That is interesting ‘’she said in a low cadence voice.

‘’The law of contract is classified under civil law and any breach leads to civil proceedings in the courts .Its main sources  like the general sources of law ,provides main template that governs the law of contract in the country .This includes statute of general application involving certain British Statutes ,still operating in the country .The received English law such as common law ,English Doctrine of equity and certain indigenous laws,such as the Companies and Allied Matter Act -1990.The judicial precedents of superior courts can also form sources of law popularly regarded as case law or judge made law.With the advent of modern laws ,and modern contracts with modern practices ,guiding transactions,alien or unknown to traditional communities and societies , there was limited application of customary laws .Now before I continue my lecture let me first and foremost define contract .What is contract?A contract can be defined as that thing enforceable at law and what is that thing enforceable at law ,Alimat ?’’

‘’Contract !’’she volleyed

‘’You said what ? think again!’’He bullied

‘’Agreement’’ with meandering voice  

‘’Fantastic  and fantabulous! Thank you ,you grease my elbow ,simple thing is as easy and difficult as the difficult thing.It is called agreement and often considered binding by the courts because failure by those who refuse to fulfill basic  agreement which is a contract may lead to a lawsuit or  be sued  in a court of law .In this case ,two essential requirement are involved and it include two or three parties or more for agreement to be sealed or entered into.Secondly , the legality issue  must be complied with and binding by the parties to an agreement .Business or commercial transactions are bound to involve two or thee or more parties to seal an agreement .It can involve not only human beings but also institutions ,corporate entities and companies are regarded popularly as a capable legal entities ,including nations can enter into binding agreements .On the other hand ,there must be consensus that what the law accepts is final ,non-negotiable and a binding agreement .A contract therefore is sealed after negotiation or bargaining over terms are ended.Simple! And when it is sealed ,it must include all the vital elements or essential requirements that must be found ,according to the law when forming a basic contract.That is why it must also be borne in mind not all agreements are binding but only those that comply with what the law says.And so ,what are the vital elements needed in a bonafide  contract that is for it to be binding ?

There are certain components involved ,based on the two sides of offer and acceptance .first, that a contractual offer ,must be accepted by other party without condition;that the parties so intended ,to enter into binding agreement to create a legal relation;that they must have legal capacity to carry a contract ;And that such contract must be supported or endorsed by a consideration ;that a certain laid down formalities as prescribed must adhered to or strictly followed ;that it requires a genuine consent ,either given voluntarily or entered into freely by  contracting parties ; that a contractual object must be legal .They form elements of a valid contract in a synopsis namely offer and acceptance ,capacity ,intention  for formation of legal relations ,genuine consent, consideration , laid down formalities and legal objectives .

But before , we move on ,we shall consider ,types of contract available namely ,contract by seal , Unilateral,bilateral,void,valid , unenforceable  and simple contract.You see,when a contract is declared void ,it means it has no legal effect .For instance ,a criminal offense is a no-go-area ,cannot be enforced and under  such prevailing circumstances,it is void abinitio .The law considered that ,those rights cannot be created ,let alone formalized and ratified and as far as the state is concerned ,it barely exist and carry no force of law.When a bilateral contract happens,it must involve two parties ,with some mutual agreement ,assumed with reciprocal obligation as soon as the contract is sealed .Unilateral deals with certain contract that is initially binding on one’s party only.For instance , a proposal  by a rich man who offers reward for whoever his precious or luxurious item and that makes it binding on the promisor .Valid contract is truly binding on its parties and truly enforceable at law ,so that whosoever withdraws from it ,may be sued in a court of law,for a breach of contract .

Now ,let me treat void contract , a little precisely and cite samples or types.First and foremeost ,like I said ,such agreement is legal offence ,illegal and therefore void due to its criminal predilection .Such cannot be enforced be it an attempt to steal property ,,burn down a property ,a factory building or involved in libelous article .Such an agreement that calls for commission of civil wrong is therefore against the person and in  the eyes of the law criminal .So ,it is wrong to involved in damaging a person’s reputation, slander him ,damage his goods ,infringe the person’s right ,infringe his copyright ,patent ,trademark.An agreement to sell public offices ,procure pardons, by corrupt means ,or pay public officers ,more or less that the legal fees or salary ,or such an agreement that interferes with proper maintenance of the duties or roles of a public officer .They call this type an agreement injuring public service and one of the most commonest contract in this regard  and class is called illegal lobbying agreement .When a party  agrees to use bribery ,to intimidates opponent with threats of voters’ loss or maneuvered in an improper methods  to procure  or prevent  adoption of a specific legislation ,such agreement clearly contravenes public interest.This also impairs the sanity and the legal framework of  democratic process .Although devoid of improper methods , some courts endorse similar regulation based on such type of agreement without the need to sacrifice sanity .

Agreement involving conflicts of interest ,refers to a sordid scenario,when public  officials are personally interested directly or indirectly in the transaction entered into  on behalf of government in which they serve for profiteering purposes ,such agreement ,is technically void and wrong.For instance , a procurement officer buying trucks  from an automobile agency in which he holds a substantial blocks of shares .Any such violation imposes criminal liability on an erring officer ,therefore making  the contract unenforceable against the government .There are other agreements, those  obstructing legal processes and in this case , such agreement  perverts legal processes , contradicts public interest ,inept  and void .It is illegal to pay money for the abandonment of criminal case ,suppressing of evidence,in any legal proceedings  ,stirring up of litigations, for perpetration of fraud of any proportion, refraining from prosecution of fraud , or corrupt person of embezzlement ,can be regarded altogether as void and unenforceable by the court of law .Infact, should one agrees to pay a regular witness ,higher fee than a standard of regular fee as allowed by the law ,in the course of the victory  of the promisor in the lawsuit .This type is void by the law .This inordinately encourages the witness to lie to obtain reward ,help his party secure victory and later lead to a perjury and miscarriage of justice .

Alimat , I would rest my case under void contract with which we shall still continue in the next class,Next under this void contract shall be usury ,Now copy what is on the board .I’ll be having some clients at the chamber by 4pm.Are you satisfied with the class today ?’’

‘’Sir , I think it is interesting ‘’

‘’don’t worry you shall soon get used to ‘’And the phone rang

‘’Alimat see ,those are my clients,calling  .They ve been waiting .Just copy the notes on the board ,When you are done ,go downstairs and give the gateman the keys of the penthouse .I’ll be off .Take care ‘’ as he bang the doors and vamoosed .

WE ARE NOT ONE -Part one

  The indomitable task of making Nigeria one is a lifelong battle that had taken more than half a century to mature and still counting ,with no clear cut signals at getting to Nirvana.In this Prose-fiction,Ibikunle Laniyan ,the blogger tell a good story about the problem with Nigeria in a 600 page thriller of which excert are pulled out below.Enjoy the reading and be healed by history,nature's only golden book . 

 

As the sunset rose through its murky waters ,Hafsat finally heaved a sigh of relief ,in the new found home of a good Samaritan .Exuberant on the Car seat as Femi drove her home on a pleasure trip once again ,as two lovers , bamboozled by salacity and somewhat convinced by pertinence ,headed for a honeymoon .His bows of love were strung,each drive took on a dimension of its own ,with branded craft of steel , he had mastered for  so long in manipulating ladies but not so fallaciously ,carrying clay pots of egalitarian propensity ,with them ,applying  rigidly the golden rule in all circumstances ,that bars not gates of justice and freedom wherever they are mounted .His libidinous breeze freshened but not faded but at last blew steadily ,on a vertiginous plane .On Hafsat signals ,this shaft was thrust hastily into immediate action and long before ,she could even come , to the realization  of this good gesture ,Femi ‘s tarry to pay homage to his love ,was safely back in check.Aclose fitting action ,for a girl,an orphan  thrown on the street by  a wicked landlady ,whose cry and agony  ,ambushed the good Samaritan vehicle ,at dusk,in a 40 miles travel that ended in the adjacent street and Femi ‘s abode that was next to the landlady property.Femi Alakija ,the son of a late oil mongul ,Bashiru Alakija ,who left hundreds of filling station and a good score of properties at home and abroad .Naturally enough ,she was delighted,to be living in a well furnished apartment ,gotten by Femi and sent her off the street .They had gone out  once and she gave him a phone call ,for the succulent outing, to discuss pledges,he made to her .

As they say  ,one good turn ,deserves another  ,though in this case ,Femi was still firing the first salvo .Thrusting behind her memory of anxiety and distress,grief and despair ,she suffered since the death of her parent in a ghastly motor accident ,on reaching Ore at Ondo State .Femi seem to have a graet influence on her emotion and had somehow forced her to change her emotion and once again ,give the a posterity ,once again .He had summoned other men to a corporate meeting when her phone rang and the motion was abortive as he sank bact to change the day’s plan for one single help.He could not endure the thought of seeing this girl persist in that agony or at best being unhappy at all.Perhaps,this was a device and a ploy to woo her love and not necessarily to divorce her from distress .But which away ,he did change the course of her history.He had grown so much impatient , to see her suffer again,even though for whatever behind the help ,real or fake ,driven by passion for the needy or driven by love ,Hafsat couldn’t have loved it .As praises ,were hurled ,new pledges were made and as new pledges were made ,new actions were taken .The gates of salvation and garrison of a good Samaritan was alert ,to engage vital action and dispense favours.How time flies !She stood outside the gate ,wating for him to turn out and in an hour’s time ,he zoomed across the Adebo  street  , her eyes glittered ,with newly acquired Porsche car ,Aston Martin and they set out for a nearby joint for refreshment.

‘’I wouldn’t mind to thank you once again and again for the good gesture .I can’t thank you enough for keeping me warm .Thank you very much Femi .I appreciate  that much and I must say it was heavy in my heart .Thank you.’’

‘’Oh babe ,don’t worry yourself  and by  the way , what are we friends for but methink that the most important now is your education and your trade .You ‘ve not decided on what ‘re going to do –a fashion designer , a beautician ,or just a trader .Tell me , what you are gonna be doing ‘’ Femi ,a lovesick  maverick mayhem and a  ladies man,said ,with a grit on his face ,steering away the wheel .

‘’Anyway ,as far as the trade is concerned ,I ve not  decided yet but…‘’she fired pointblank

‘’Decide that quickly ‘’lip-reading coarsely her lissom lineament,Femi cuts in.

‘’But you promised to help fund my education .’’ecstatic in her voice as a low keyed manikin ,she gushed.

‘’Yes….but not anymore .I thought  about it Yesterday .The new plan now is to give you a lump sum of 200,000 naira to go into trading .You must be taught how to fish .You know ,what am saying ..teach you……’’He gybed with gusto , as if battling ,in a gym and a  gymkhana.

‘’Femo la master…you mean………200,…..what!’’her brows rose hysterically , shocked to  the barrow and wheezing like a grampus.

‘’You can say that again …’’banging the steering away ,with the pie eyed mien of eagle eyes , giving him a peck ,at the back  and later re-adjusted back to her seat,to resume banter .

‘’But why did you change your mind so soon ?’’she gurned ,with her oral gung-ho

“Girls In the Ivory Towers nowadays ,are no longer responsible as it were , before independence and the first republic ,until the eighties .This took a big hit on our value system which itself was a reflection of the change in the Nigerian society .’’Belching and growling with the empirical and historical penchant

‘’ You say what….?’’Gobsmacked with no placebo and nonplussed with carthasis

‘’You hear me right are not responsible ,they are starkly useless ‘’loosing his noddle ,glued  to annoyance and frank to a fault,to startle her  stance and paragliding her emotivity.

‘’Don’t say that to Women ,Please because they have a life to live .It is wrong ,is not…………..’’Her defense wore a brawn

‘’Hey hold it there ,let me talk ‘’with petulant grim on his rabid  face , repeated it twice .

‘’Are you going to hold my mouth ?You are just coming from the village and you have no experience ,whatsoever , about the City life .’’gruesome grit cascaded .

She kept quiet  and stopped dragging with Femi as he intensely raptured himself  with a frosty air of placid peevishness  and masculine  hoopla as she jumped through the hoops of pesty petrification..He felt obliged to tell her nothing but the gospel truth .

‘’See,let me tell you ,something ,as a good friend and not as a lover .There is no need , to tell you anyway , in the first place and later events would reveal that  to you .When you enter the varsity ,you would see it yourself and you may even be part of them .It is a matter of time.’’

‘’No ,God forbid!’’grumpy feminism ,grulped its cadence

‘’That ‘s why you must be self sustaining. So,let’s talk about another  thing

Else………………’’

Then,he cooled his temper and lowered his stern eye .

‘’Please,tell me ,Please!’’She stood up again ,to hold him tight and moved to the front seat .

‘’Please,tell me ,what is ?’’

‘’First ,of all , get your secondary school certificate but now trading is very important for you to survive yourself.’’His admonition seemed to land on a fertile soil in the presence of purposeful and rich man.

Hell bent  on clarity as a good Samaritan,he drove to a halt ,numbed with a nuke eyed dart at her sickly reflection

‘’We have no need of bad blood between us and whatever goes in the varsities and when you can fend for yourself ,you may be a good story ,providing exemplary leadership ,for girls out there .It would be a worse case scenario ,should  you not have a  job or something to fall upon and fend for yourself .’’She was admonished once again like a brother

She was intense and speechless ,with a fatigue of spasm, mangling his bone,as he barely drove off .Still sozzled in that span of sobriety ,they stopped again and now by the filling station  .There ,he did the unthinkable .

‘’Hello ,babe ,Why have you suddenly gone quiet ?That doesn’t have to bother you .It’s a common ailment out there .I came to your place last week ,I met a young girl and in the course of our discussion ,he told me ,about your late parent .She said ,your parent are very strict people .So, be your parent self and be yourself .I ve noticed all girls are the same And most virgin girls like you  lose their virginity in campuses .When you are informed about the girls,on coming to the campus after admission  ,when they come to you ,with wiles and cunning lifestyle , you can sense ,see trouble and protect yourself .Money cannot buy you if you are self sufficient and contented with what  you have .The most important is work .Work!work!!work !!!’’

Not yet abated of the sickly pallor on her face ,Femi ,with a triumphant face , unboarded the vehicle ,got down to his feet , to cool her temper and slap out grief and opened up the surprise package .Working towards to the station from the park but first , he glanced down at her inside the vehicle.

‘’Don’t be annoyed .It is just plain gospel.Now , look here ,this is one of my late father’s filling station and I can assure you by Monday , you’’ll be working here to raise the money .It’s just four months salary and you can pump that  into your business if you like or stay longer at work .Forget the grant of 200,000naira .I ‘’ll be talking to the manager for you .There is no free launch in America .Give me a break,just a second ,I’’ll be back in a jiffy  .’’

‘’Wait , some seconds ,let me ask you something….wait….wait’’gesticulating out of the window for a tart slow down .

‘’No  no ,now is the time to wake up for your responsibility and very important .’’Hurrying away towards the Manager’s office ,to woo the manager.Four or five of his staffs ,crowded around him,with greeting galore.

‘’Good morning’’ the first man Yayi said .’’Hello’s how’s work ? Where ‘s your Oga ?’’

‘’He’s inside with the accountant ‘’He retorted

‘’Hello,Sir ,omo baba’’ the second man Alagbe , greeted as if hearkenly alert  with a fallen tone

‘’Hah…… hah ………omo baba ,hah..omo baba has come .How is home Sir ?’’Moving closer to him.

‘’Home is fine and you how’s work?’’as he stood on his way towards the office, exchanging pleasantries.

‘’Bring your back Sir ‘’the fourth man Bello ,replied trying to struggle with the bag and aid him of the  little stress.

‘’Wow, don’t worry’’ turning the bag and guiding it with other hand with eyes showing  reluctance and a little ecstasy.He had given no attempt to refusal and only tried to cling to the demand at relieving him of the portfolio.

‘’Ha ,no problem ,let me relief you ,the manager is around ‘’

He stood up and stared intently  and thoughtfully at Femi  ,with eyes goggled out of its  sockets but so soon acclimatized to its ambience and 30 minutes later finished the discussion and ordered for her employment.

‘’Hello Sir , we never meet for like six months now but why ?’’He inquired

‘’Anyway ,that is life for you but forget that I need you to do something very urgent ‘’

‘’Am all ears what’s the matter ?’’His curiousity fizzled out his concern.

‘’A girl would be coming here on Monday and I would demand that you employ her .This is not wish but my command .Are we done?’’Femi baritone voice instilled thralldom on his manager .

‘’Am okay Sir and so ,it shall be done.Your wish is my command . ‘’

‘’But I’ve ordered ,Bello to give you the portfolio and lodge the funds in the bank .So,that’s it ‘’They stood up coincidentally ,going in the same direction as  manager  briefly escorted his boss to the exit door .

Heebie-jeebies escorted him like hedgerows moulted upon hedgerows in a thick forest as some top staff crowded around him,bidding him farewell and eye services galore engaged across the board  as common in a typical Nigerian company .

Bello,the fourth man, who was in control of the portfolio was eagerbeaver to follow his boss down to the park ,where it can be relieved of the bag and disembark,later learnt ,it was the lump sum , to pay the worker’s salary .

‘’Bye Sir,’’as Bello parted ways with him bidding farewell ‘’

Hafsat was happy on hearing the good news and summoned courage for brighter days .

‘’There is no need to worry yourself bring your application on Monday and tell him ,about me .Everything shall be done .’’

‘’You mean,that is it’’still marveled .

‘’Yea ,that is it ‘but don’t bother to call me because , I might not be around ,in the next couple of weeks ‘’

‘’Please don’t leave me where are you going travelling again?’’she was neurotic about it

‘’No, still in the country .I have a townhall seminals going on somewhere around ikota,Lagos Island.My brother Bola would be handling the seminals.We do  it every week now .’’

‘’Oh,I can see because ,I saw the handbills posted at Arebo Street .I know Bola is your brother .’’

He drove her off to Ayebo street where he headed to the island  club party .

‘’Thank you Femi ‘’as she unboarded the vehicle and moved across the road to the next  street ,where Femi ‘s late father had 60 houses.

Struggling to express himself ,his assurance was all she needed for a revival in life and a good Samaritan is like a cold water to a thirsty water.

‘’I would not be around for about  one or two  weeks .But I would call you ,in case of a new development.’’ And the scene closes .

                                                                       Chapter  2 

Nigeria became an amalgamated entity in 1914, and according to popular saying , ever since, the trouble with Nigeria started .Are we truly one ? A certain group of friends ,gathered together at a newsstand on weekend ,to regularly as it were for ages , discuss the critical issue of Nigerian unity .Bola fired the first salvo and then rumble in the jungle was begun .

‘’Do you think  ,we are one in this country ?If you think so ,you are making a great mistake and I would’t be a party  to that.You must have been deceiving yourself,for so long .If the report I heard about you was true,sorry to say ,even though you are my friend , you are indeed ,the biggest fool of the century .’’

‘’What made you think ,that the country cannot survive and stay much longer together .I think ,if we practice full federalism and devolve power gradually  ,then  we stand of chance of reviving the country and make it work.’’Femi optimistic  replied.

‘’I know you brandish that prejudice in favour of the hausas ,egocentric and greedy Ibo people .You haven’t learn and stop patronizing these mercenaries of retrogression and demotion.You are not even ashamed to befriend some of your friends ,who sold their  father’s grave  to them .Can you imagine that ?That bad company alone has clouded your judgement and your level of rationality diminishes by the day .How many of them in the east are selling  their land to an average Yoruba man?Yet they have bought 60 percent of lands in Lagos State .How can you say Lagos is no man’s land and for your information,can you say that in kano or kaduna to say kano or kaduna is no man’s land ?’’Bola lamented

‘’See, stop saying that and it is so because your people are coward .They are lazy ,traitors and dirty people and they can’t compete with the igbos-the most industrious people in Africa .’’ Ogechukwu countered .

‘’So Yorubas are cowards ,traitors and lazy now and yet you are following them ,buying and selling in their land .You envy them so much and still love their land and the huge market you cannot get from the east .That is the kind of massive market ,that you could not get from the east,that you wanted to die in Lagos  .’’Bola interrogated

‘’Which place ? Lagos is no man’s land ,my land .It is not even Yorubaland and infact ,the true Lagosians are the igbos.The igbos work hard to build lagos contributing 60 percent of internally generated revenues .So,what are you saying?’’

‘’Shut up ,you minnow , Femi , see, you see what I was telling you? You see ,can you see that now  ?Can you say that in kano ? And you think ,mad men Fulani –Hausas would spare you? There is nothing a Yoruba man ,would do for you that you would appreciate him and you would still call him traitor at last.

Femi,I ve told you times without number ,these people are not worth dying for.They  are never interested in the welfare of the Yorubas and only interested in the money they can make in their land especially  Lagos massive market.Please ,stop trading with them.’’

‘’ Stop trading with what ?’’Femi bullied

‘’You hear me right!’’still insisted

‘’I think you are not  honest with my business .How many of my Yoruba  people can buy 20 million naira plot of land ,we are currently selling in our various  estates in Lekki and Island .They have cash my brother .’’

The two Igbos laughing hysterically to their melodrama,intensely cherished the fanfare and the comedy of the day.And the banter ‘s frenetic pace regurgitates  its verve.

‘’You seem to support them .Wait a minute ,which work  do they do?So tell me-a shoemaker or a washerman or shoeblaker?’’

‘’Go forbid!’’Ogechukwu resisted

‘’No wonder,importation of course .Now ,who is lazy person ,making cheap money ? Are they producing or building the local economy ?Yoruba’s pioneered industrialism in Nigeria and are the true industrialists.

That is the only factor ,we all know like economists , in which you can build a country  .Now,70 percent of mass market importation in the country is under their control ,bring all sort of rubbish into the country ,fake counterfeit and contrabands and expired products including drugs among others .Everywhere ,a Nigerian go across the world,most of the criminals in the diaspora belong to the igbos .They are used to this blood money and far back at home after the civil war .The Igbos were annoyed at how one Yoruba men could win the war for Nigeria against Biafra with his diabolical and herbalist power .And so ,on coming to Lagos ,they took to rituals and most  herbalists patronisers  were from iboland and if you go to the east ,many of them have sold their souls  to the devil.Rituals on the increase and then how many Yorubas have the mind to do juju now?  .Because of massive importation ,enriching only themselves ,they have directly or indirectly destroyed most of the industries ,the Yorubas have labored to build before independence. .That is to tell you  the level of bitterness between the two tribes .So,how are we one? ‘’

‘’Biafra must go’’Ogechukwu derided

‘’Have you not been fighting economic war against the Yorubas , since the war ended in 1970s especially in Lagos ?We shall see where you end it at last.You people start something ,you are never a Yorubas ,that invariable is decked with the spirit of perfection  .’’he responded immediately

This was rather surprising to Ogechukwu ,with the kind of expression of embarrassment ,he had been wearing and to lay hold of clarity that it was a true economic war was nothing but a shrewd remarks ,that baste deeply .

‘’See, we must try and unite this country and I would not be a party to its crash.please , resist being a tribalist.I beg you’’Femi admonished his fellow brother .

‘’Stop deceiving yourself a fool at 40 a fool to the grave .This country is over 50 years old and if it were a person ,would have been a fool right down to the grave by now .We are only postponing the evil days,wasting our talents and life and the talents of our great grand grandchildren to come.Already,all prominent Yorubas ,their lifestyle ,had been wasted for the last 50 years .Should we not take action now ,we shall be worse than Hausaland in term of education ,in the next 50 years .Go and mark my work. The problem started with first republic and we are simply a wild goose chasers and what they could not do not ,we cannot do .’’

Kingsley listened intensively ,for a large part of the conversation .All of a sudden ,tossed in anger,raised its momentum  and pulses of the argument.

‘’poor man’’.He signed

‘’mind your tongue ‘’Bola blasted

‘’I pity you ,you need not to say this .You are the worst tribalist I ve ever seen .Anyway ,your people  are tribalists and it is your D.N.A.‘’kingsley chided .

Bola for the first time ,to release tension ,burst into laughter .

‘’And so,why are you laughing ? Is it not your people ,that started tribalism ?You coward,betrayal and traitor ,lazy set of people ,agbero and motor park touts,miscreants and uneducated set of fools  .Na dem dem’’.The bastinado was so  hypertensive that Bola ballooned into new rave  of hysterical laughter and they lost their top ,when he threw his bombshell.

‘’Femi,see,the people you thought were your friends ,See,them and the affronts ,they hurl on your family.’’Bola scolded his brother of wrong friendship

‘’don’t say that our people are the most educated set of people in Africa ,Please,stop that rubbish .’’Femi reprimanded his ibo friends for the first time .

‘’ Are you not a fool like your brother ? Who told you ,you are the most educated in your wildest dream?The easterners are reserved that glorious honour.’’Ogechukwu boasted

‘’Can you defend yourself?’’And Femi throws the gauntlet ,into a contest

Bola still laughing hysterically in a tail spin.

‘’See,the goofs ,the goons swollenheaded indigo dye of  mortal animae that you made your friends all because of money .’’Bola chided his brother once again.

Femi tried to pacify the inglorious panorama and its Pandora box  ,to no avail but the lies had burst the lid asunder .Oge might be with his vainglorious  thoughts , and that certain evidences would be needed to be  his proof of the defense ,he intends to vanguard .A brief vicious notion ,flicked in his mind but certainly he knew ,it was hopeless,if he could not defend them.But as he swore , he would never allow any affront from the Yorubas once again but what was the point of  bragadoccio ,if he could not defend his braggart.Certainly,the melodrama was ripe for marriage with reliable statistics .By the time Femi had worked out the vain pacification, Bola was ride-ready  to unleash his bombshell and munitions .So,soon,the rapturous event ,would choose for itself a hard blow .

Bola for years of personal revelation had an absurd experience with the igbo who he knows as mean spirited folks,trying harder to get over their lies about the Yorubas,sometimes ,when it mattered ,keeping them at arms length .He had tried severally not to  be caught into tribal superiority fights with these igbos ,especially at the newsstand ,but the matters incessantly ,let out all the seams so that the attempted concealment is invariably left  in public glare .It was too dull ,depressing as no one seemed to notice ,the years of isolationism of what needed to be told often been avoided by whole caboodle left open for ill treatment due to humiliation involved and fear of telling the truth and the unproven stigma involved.Now two brothers ,met them again   at a newsstand and once again, tribalism,a burning cauldron was brought out once again.And thus the gybes in a murky waters began its contest ,that only history ,with evidence ,can provide.

‘’ Don’t you know, you are  insulting my person ,before my brother ,You should know and be able to balance the truth and not people to tell you lies .Go through history books ,discover the truth and let it set you free.You know the problem with the igbos is that they allow themselves to be easily deceived by their scholars .For you to allow,somebody,to think for you is the highest level of  illiteracy ,there is or you can found in modern world .Some of your informed people ,the few objective ones,though hard to find still know that Yorubas are the English of west Africa.That is to tell you education belong to Yorubas.Just take it like that. But majority are write off…………………contd

MICROFINANCE:THE ART OF DEVELOPMENT

Changing the paradigm shift in development towards the evolution of microfinance  is the next frontier of development management and universality of mordern civilisation.In this article ,we observe its rising importance to the development of global economy in the first essay of case study on microfinance.The Blogger ibikunle laniyan explores its strategic  imperative to every national economy.

All over the world the art of microfinance is the best known human
development strategy .Without development no society can survive
Certainly the art of development in any society is determined by
development planning which can be preceded by development ideology and
strategy mapping .In the economy of man development is a binding factor
for all humanity and the sole sustainable factor of social life .From the
antiquity into modern times it is a fundamental fact in human history .
However development brands and models differ across territories but
certainly the original context of mass development is incontrovertible and
the same and a legal framework for all societies and humanity to build .The
disparity common to development antecedence among diverse societies is
the issue of development density which measures the quality and quantity of
development in an economy and strategic impact on population market
using cultural indices.
It is to be noted that this density which varies markedly or is exceptionally
very high according to prevailing standard in advanced countries and the
inherent models that nurtured this density is grossly inadequate by practice
and modeling to developing countries market . Such cultural hazards bred by
intellectual imperialism tends to mystify the importance of this density
highly unsuitable to the repressed territories. This demystication cultivated
by duress has brazenly promoted gross underdevelopment and a degradation
of the environment of development of these territories which has depressed


development standard imbibing unworkable models as kith and kin of
ineffective development agenda .
Consequently the dividend is mass poverty .Although serious factor such as
dark age mentality is gripping the territories especially Africa. To escape
cultural hazard –the so called counter-development trap cycles and western
intellectual terrorism sensible countries of the world predominantly the
emerging market have opened a new era adopting and imbibing hook line
and sinker this development concept that gained renaissance in the 20th
century
To build capacity which is the author of development they have embraced
the concept as the panacea to ever increasing mass poverty in their
territories. Today there are over 11,000 MFIs in the world and prior to U.S
meltdown had successfully touched the lives of over 500million people
.[CGAP,2008.].And to understand microfinance effectively with new models
is to chart a new development era in our world today despite giant stride
made so far is still in the preschool of the practice and industry dark age in a
potential 80% of 6.5 billion mass poverty market worldwide .This indeed is
the richest market worldwide . It is to be noted that development comes by
using and cultivating more than adequate capacity with multi pronged
strategy for effective practice and sustainability .This has eluded the industry
since the renaissance of modern microfinance .
Effective use of microfinance promotes sustainable capacity and can

nurture capital development with the right technology. The challenge is
how to erase ignorance using the media and good use of institutional art
creating such awareness across the world as included in this revised
international version . Elusive development is a major barrier in the country
which the technology can resolve too well in view of alien tested
empiricism . And the practice of microfinance since 1960s has been below
expectation vis-vis corporate obligation and strategic impact over poverty


reduction let alone eradication and grossly underperformed in the face of
ballooning mass poverty . .Several reports find out that this is due to poor
technology .Understanding microfinance is a sure antidote to build
development density in this part of the world and beyond and perhaps
return Nigeria to the path of development golden age of the 1940s 50s 60s
and 70s Indeed , the journey has just begun